Local tennis sensation Lovett gets full ride to South Carolina

Friday

Apr 19, 2013 at 9:21 PM

By Brittany JacksonTimes-News Staff Writer

Young and local tennis sensation Korey Lovett withdrew from public school at Brevard High right at a year ago, and it just might have been one of the best decisions he's made for his career. Last Saturday the almost-17-year-old verbally committed to a full athletic scholarship to South Carolina where he will continue his tennis career at the collegiate level in 2014. "Their coaches are the best and the team is awesome. The facilities are really nice. It just felt right; it's a really nice campus and a fun town to be in," Lovett said. He chose South Carolina over other Division I schools that include Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia, Illinois, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and LSU. The decision pleasantly surprised his dad and primary coach, Kenny Lovett, who was certain that Korey would choose Alabama. "I think South Carolina's coach is the best in the country, but I thought (Korey) was going to Alabama so I was shocked when he told me he had decided on South Carolina," Kenny Lovett said. "It was so hard because he had about 20 offers. He looked at me when we were in the car last weekend and said, ‘This is the coach I want to play for.' So I told him to call and tell them."Since he has been homeschooling, Korey Lovett has been able to focus on a stricter training schedule that includes playing tennis twice a day every day. When he turned 16 last April he was declared the No. 1 junior player for 16s in the South. It's a title he will hold until his birthday on April 27, but for the past year Korey has been competing in the 18s division, where he is currently ranked 11th with a 2013 record of 60-22. As a 16-year-old, Korey has defeated the 18s No. 1 junior in the country, Paul Oosterbaan, at Spring Nationals, who is a Georgia commit. Korey also beat Wake Forest's No. 1 singles player, senior David Hopkins, at the 50,000 Challenger Qualifier in Savannah, Ga., among other collegiate players. He still considers Brevard as his residence because he "didn't want to leave" to train elsewhere like other up-and-coming tennis greats often do. "This past year has been a lot of good experiences, just being able to travel a lot more, meet more people and focus on tennis," Korey Lovett said. Although Brevard is home, he travels almost every weekend to tournaments across the country. "He absolutely loves tennis. We train about three hours a day. He works really hard on the court, and off the court he's in the weight room and works hard on his fitness without me or anybody pushing him," Kenny Lovett said. "He's motivated and he loves the game. You can't make a kid play; they've got to do it for themselves."The heightened level of competition has paid off, as Lovett was recently named the U.S. Tennis Association's Male Junior Player of the Year for North Carolina. Only one junior player in the entire state receives the award each year. Korey's goal is to finish high school in December and be able to start at South Carolina in January. "It'll be tough for me when he leaves but he'll only be two hours away. I won't miss a home match. This is great for the community, too, to have him close by because I think he'll have 30-40 people from Brevard come to his home matches."As a dad and a coach I'm proud of him getting Player of the Year, but I was more proud when he got the Sportsmanship award two years ago," Kenny Lovett said of Korey. "I'm proud of how humble he is. He's a much better kid than he is a tennis player."